In today’s blog post we are going to look at a recent painting I created and discuss what lies within – what secrets this piece holds that are not apparent even on close inspection. Think about it like an old master’s painting where the artist has painted a new image over an old one, but in my case, I have blended an image into the piece to change it, all the while being something special to me. I didn’t know when I completed the painting if this was something new for artists in general, or if it is more common that one would think.
Let’s deconstruct the feature image and later discuss the subject with CoPilot.
Note that the painting started with the idea of creating a paint brush in the shape of a simple frame. I did this with the thought that it would be interesting to use the frame, something that is typically used after the painting is done, to be the subject of the art itself. I wondered what might be revealed by coming at the art from this unusual angle.
The frame I created can be seen under the Shape and Grain tab of the Brush Creator panel. Also in the image, you can see one splash or stroke of red paint made with the new brush. It has a large grain with spaces, and it is raised using thick impasto.
Abstract 110125 – Process Capture 1 – Created by Don Cheke
Using a smooth white canvas, I stamped down some red “strokes” in a random pattern. I liked the overall look, as seen below.
Abstract 110125 – Process Capture 2 – Created by Don Cheke
At this point I decided to create a new layer and stamped additional frames using the complimentary color, in this case a teal of sorts. Again, an interesting result.
Abstract 110125 – Process Capture 3 – Created by Don Cheke
Feeling like the painting needed more, I created a third layer by laying down one of the tetradic colors with a different brush. Below is an image of the third layer with the two previous layers hidden for illustration’s sake.
Abstract 110125 – Process Capture 5 – Created by Don Cheke
I placed the new layer behind the previous two, and the result is below.
Abstract 110125 – Process Capture 4 – Created by Don Cheke
At this point I decided to add an image of my wife, Denise. Somehow, I thought it was her beauty that I wanted to frame, and pay homage to, if only in the abstract. I love this picture of her, here in McNally Robinson’s Bookstore Prairie Ink restaurant.
Abstract 110125 – Process Capture 7 – Photo by Don Cheke
With the photo over the last three layers, I experimented with blend modes and settled on Hue blending, which hid the photo, while blending the various hues into, or onto, the lower layers, as seen below. I love the change that occurred – giving the painting a whole new look. It’s almost like the blend mode allowed the beauty of Denise to show on a transcendental level – at least I think so.
Abstract 110125 – Process Capture 6 – Created by Don Cheke
At this point I felt that the painting needed something more, and so I created the paths seen below, mimicking a frame, or frames, in the most abstract way. Once laid down, I could see what appeared to me mystic symbols – maybe Islamic, or other eastern philosophy. For some unknown reason, I kept thinking about Lisbon, like the lines represented text. It was only days later that I was reminded that my friend, Mike, was in Lisbon on a holiday. Strange how the mind works.
Abstract 110125 – Process Capture 8 – Created by Don Cheke
While this was all going on, I kept feeling the need to write a poem to go along with the art, either as a stand-alone piece, or to lay over the art as I have done before. It was also at this point that I decided to add a yellow sun symbol to the upper square that was formed by the path. I think it adds to the mysticism.
Abstract 110125 – Process Capture 9 – Created by Don Cheke
Lastly, I added my signature D and sized it to fit nicely without being out of place.
Abstract 110125 – Process Capture 10 – Created by Don Cheke
Below is a screen capture of the Layers panel, so you get an idea of how layers work in digital art.
Abstract 110125 – Process Capture 11 – Created by Don Cheke
I did come up with a short poem, but it is not terribly brilliant – and I didn’t place it over the painting as you have seen. And no, I am not going to ask CoPilot to help tweak it. 👍
The Frame
A line, a path, a space
Sunshine lights your face
A distance, a journey
A walk about the place
A lighted space, a brilliant place
A heart that glows, a love that binds
A frame, an enclosure, a place of our own
The story it holds, this love for you
Let’s look now at the conversation I had with CoPilot about hidden treasures in art. I wonder if you will be as amazed by what it said, as I was. My first question is a bit of a repetition of what I said at the beginning of the blog post.
Me:
I am familiar with how artists from the past would paint over an earlier painting to produce something new. I imagine it was mostly due to costs, reuse and save the cost of a new canvas. I have just created an abstract digital painting where I blend in a photo to change the coloring of the painting – using the Hue blend mode. It makes a great change, and the photo itself is completely hidden, except for the hue it transposes onto the painting. That said, I am writing a new blog post where I will deconstruct the painting and discuss the use of hidden items, or other such techniques. I am sure that I must not be the first artist to do this and wondered if you knew of any famous artists who did this on a regular basis.
CoPilot:
You’re in excellent company: many of the most celebrated artists in history embedded hidden layers, reused canvases, or concealed imagery in their work. Picasso, Miró, Van Eyck, Vermeer, Holbein, and even Michelangelo all played with this idea of “art beneath the art.”
Your digital blending with Hue mode echoes a long lineage of artists who used hidden structures, overpainting, or concealed symbolism to deepen meaning and transform the visible surface.
🎨 Artists Who Regularly Painted Over or Hid Elements
Pablo Picasso
• Famously reused canvases, especially during his early “Blue Period” when money was tight.
• The Old Guitarist (1903) hides three figures beneath the surface, revealed by X-ray imaging.
• The Crouching Beggar (1902) conceals a landscape, rotated and incorporated into the final form.
• For Picasso, reuse wasn’t just economic — it became a way of layering meaning and evolution into the work.
Joan Miró
• Beneath his abstract Pintura (Painting), scans revealed a hidden portrait of his mother.
• This shows how personal memory and hidden imagery can coexist with abstraction, much like your digital hue blending.
Jan van Eyck
• In The Arnolfini Portrait (1434), a convex mirror reflects hidden figures, including possibly the artist himself.
• This is a subtler form of concealment — embedding hidden presences in plain sight.
Hans Holbein the Younger
• The Ambassadors (1533) contains the famous anamorphic skull, distorted until viewed from a specific angle.
• A reminder that hiddenness can be optical, not just physical.
Edvard Munch
• In The Scream, he penciled a tiny inscription: “Could only have been painted by a madman.” Initially thought to be vandalism, it was later confirmed as his own hidden commentary.
Michelangelo
• In The Last Judgment (Sistine Chapel), scholars believe he embedded subtle hidden figures, including Mary Magdalene.
• His concealments often carried theological or political weight.
✨ Why This Resonates With Your Digital Technique
• Reuse and Transformation: Just as Picasso turned an abandoned composition into something new, your Hue blending transforms a photo into pure color influence — its form erased, its essence retained.
• Hidden Narratives: Like Miró’s mother beneath abstraction, your hidden photo becomes a ghostly presence, shaping the painting without being seen.
• Viewer Engagement: Hidden elements invite curiosity. Whether it’s Holbein’s skull or your concealed photo, the unseen layer adds depth and mystery.
• Continuity Across Mediums: From oil paint to digital pixels, the impulse to hide, reuse, and embed meaning is timeless.
💡 Possible Angles for Your Blog Post
• “Ghosts Beneath the Surface”: Linking your Hue-blended photo to Picasso’s buried figures and Miró’s hidden portrait.
• “The Ethics of Concealment”: Is hiding an image an act of erasure, preservation, or transformation?
• “The Invisible Palette”: How hidden sources (photos, sketches, underpaintings) shape the final visible work.
• “Digital Palimpsests”: Drawing parallels between medieval manuscripts scraped and rewritten, and your digital layering.
Isn’t that cool – stumbling across a method that was not previously known to me in its vastness of use?
I hope that you enjoyed today’s art interlude, and I hope that life holds a lovely hue for you and your loved ones!
Life in color – a wonderful thing!
Donald B. Cheke – Saskatoon, SK
Thanks for the mention and the art looks great!
You are welcome, my friend!